


the end is where we begin

by nishiki



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Allison's beauty shop, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Diego Hargreeves has a bad time, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, Diego Hargreeves-centric, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Sibling Diego Hargreeves, Grief/Mourning, Guru Klaus Hargreeves, Heavy Angst, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Hurt/Comfort, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Klaus and his cult, Klaus' cult - Freeform, Panic Attacks, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Season/Series 02, Soft Diego Hargreeves, Time Travel, escaping a cult, time travel sucks man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:55:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25612432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nishiki/pseuds/nishiki
Summary: After narrowly avoiding the apocalypse, Diego finds himself thrown into the year 1961 completely alone. After a while of searching for his family, Diego has to come to terms with the idea that he might be the only one who survived the time travel.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 18
Kudos: 241





	the end is where we begin

**Author's Note:**

> My goal was to release this story into the world before season 2 drops and I did it! I started writing this monster yesterday, the 29th, and wrote and proofread all day today. Now I need a nap. Why am I like that?

He felt nauseous when his feet slammed into the concrete floor. The blue light that had been enveloping him just mere seconds ago had left him blind and disorientated. He felt like vomiting as he stumbled against a rough wall right in front of him and barely managed to brace himself against the stone with his hands. How the hell did Five do this shit without throwing up all the time? It took Diego what felt like hours to take stock of his surroundings and his own person. 

The Icarus Theater, his sister Vanya blowing up the moon after she had tried to kill her brothers, the huge chunks of the moon coming crashing down on earth, the plan to time travel to god knows where. Then he realized that he didn't hear anything around him except the dull hum of music in the distance. The world around him slowly took shape. He was in some alleyway between two buildings. It was dark where he landed and he was alone. 

That last realization filled him with sudden panic. He was alone. He didn't know where he was or rather _when_ he was and he was _alone_. He had been holding onto Klaus and Five’s hands and neither Five nor Klaus were anywhere in sight. The pale light of the full moon shone through the narrow space that the alley left between the buildings. Trash cans were pushed against the walls and old, faded posters were plastered across the stone here and there. Maybe, he thought as he took a deep breath to steady himself, Klaus and Five were close by. Surely, they had landed not too far away from Diego. 

He decided blindly to turn left and leave the alley only to find himself at the side of a street that he didn't recognize. What he did realize immediately was, that this was not his hometown. He couldn't tell why he knew it, though. It was a hunch, perhaps. The air was warmer and the architecture that he could see different from what he was used to. To his right, a bit further down the road, he noticed a gaggle of people standing in front of what he could only assume to be a nightclub. That was where the dull humming of music came from too. Even from afar, he could tell that the clothes those people wore were … a bit old-fashioned. He saw girls in long flowing skirts and crop tops with wavy hair and sandals, he saw other girls in tight and very short, colorful dresses.

He started to get a suspicion of the time he had stranded in - but he had never been much of a fashion expert. Well, he would still have plenty of time figuring out _when_ he was after he had found the rest of his family. Until then, he thought, he should probably try to hide his knives. People usually reacted not too favorably when they would see a guy with a bunch of knives strapped to his body. 

He went back into the alley, pulled his harness and his sweatshirt off and put the harness back on underneath his sweatshirt. The knives on his legs he shoved unceremoniously into his boots - once more relieved that he had not put on these ridiculous bowling shoes at the ‘Superstar’. Then he wiped the blood off his face as best he could with the sleeve of his sweatshirt and walked back into the street. His best chance of finding his siblings was to ask people, he supposed. His heart was racing at the thought that he was alone and that he had no fucking idea where his family was. For the first time in his life, Diego Hargreeves actually understood what those kids in the mall felt like when they lost sight of their parents and stumbled around in a blind panic. 

What if something went wrong? What if they were- No, better not think about it. 

He _just_ landed. If his siblings’ landings had been anything like his, they were probably confused and disorientated as well. He had horrifying images of Klaus stumbling right in front of a car flashing through his mind. And what if, maybe even more horrifyingly, they had all somehow ended up stranded in a different time? Five had proven in the past that he was not very reliable when it came to his time-travel-shenanigans.

As he walked up the streets in the direction of that nightclub, he felt ill and ready to pass out cold in the nearest ditch. Still, he soldiered on and marched up to two girls that were smoking and leaning against a wall. “Hey” He greeted them a little awkwardly. It didn't escape him how they were looking him up and down. “I … Uhm … I’m looking for my brother. He’s my height, skinny, brown hair, green eyes … leather pants and … he’s wearing bowling shoes.” The girls gave him even stranger looks at that. Yeah, well, he couldn't really blame them. He would look at himself much the same way if their roles were reversed. 

At last, both girls shook their heads and giggled when he walked off. Maybe Klaus had actually passed out after landing. Maybe he was throwing up his guts right now. He wasn’t nearly as worried about his other siblings as he was about Klaus right now. Sure, Klaus had proven himself capable to survive in the strangest of situations but … He was still worried about him. Maybe that was just him being an overprotective big brother trying to make up for years of neglecting Klaus and allowing his baby brother to ruin his life. 

He didn't know just how long he wandered around the city until he finally found out where he was. Apparently, he had been blipped into a small town somewhere in east Texas that barely had anything of note going for it. And, after finding a newspaper, he even found out the year. _1961_. Well, wasn’t that just awesome? He spent a good few hours wandering aimlessly across town, drawing attention everywhere he went because of his get-up and not finding even a whiff of any of his siblings in the process. He asked about them here and there whenever he met someone walking in his direction with no success at all. 

In the wee hours of the morning, Diego finally gave up and took refuge in a park to catch some sleep on a bench - until he was shooed away by a very angry looking officer who was accusing him of being a bum. Which he was, _technically_. He was stranded without money, without a job, without a place to call home. Briefly, he wondered if he should travel back to his hometown. Sir Reginald should already be living there, after all. Sure, he wouldn't know who Diego was but if he would show him the tattoo and his powers … he was sure that the old man would be convinced by that. 

In the end, he spent days searching for his siblings in the town he ended up in and then traveling to the next small town and the next and the next. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack. He was living off of the things he found or was able to steal, made money on carnivals along the way with his powers, and stayed on the road as much as possible. Like this, weeks passed by, months perhaps even. All the while he was traveling across the state, trying to find out anything he could about his siblings, keeping his ears perked for any mention of some weird person doing weird shit. He hoped to find at least one of them. And shouldn't it be easier to hear _something_? About a guy who was huge? About a weird girl who made things around her break? About a guy who was constantly talking to himself? Yet, radio silence. 

After a while, as Diego stood in the restroom of a diner at the side of the road near Dallas, he had to admit to himself that it was possible that he was the only one who had survived. He stared at his own reflection in the dirty mirror. His hair had grown out quite a bit, his beard looked rough. He looked every bit the homeless bum people accused him of being. His striped sweatshirt had holes in it and his boots … they had seen better days for certain. 

Maybe they were all dead. Maybe he would never see his family again. He would never get the opportunity to hug Vanya and tell her how sorry he was for being such a dick to her. He would never get the opportunity to talk to Allison and how much he thought that her husband was an asshole for taking away her daughter. He would never get the opportunity to make peace with Luther. He would never get the opportunity to actually talk to Five about his time in the apocalypse. He would never get the opportunity to tell Klaus how proud he was of him for ditching the drugs or tell him how much he loved him. 

He sat down on the dirty tiles of the restroom, his back pressed against one of the stalls as he broke out in the ugliest sobs he had ever heard leave his throat in the thirty years of his life. He imagined Klaus or Vanya landing somewhere completely alone and how scared they must have been. He imagined them all dead, blown to pieces by the force that Five had created for the time travel. Never in his life had he felt so alone and helpless and without hope than in this very moment as he was breaking down in tears in some fucking restroom in the middle of nowhere. 

It all came crashing down on him without his consent. He felt like he was hyperventilating. He gasped for air and yet he couldn't get any air into his fucking lungs. Eudora lying dead in this motel room, his baby brother tortured by assassins and then going through the Vietnam war, his mother… And now here he was. _Alone_. A part of him told him that he needed to move on now, to start over but he couldn't even move his body one inch. 

Even when the restroom door opened and someone talked to him. He couldn't move or answer or even listen. 

※※※※※※※ 

How he ended up in that cell inside that police station, he didn't know. He just did. It wouldn't be the first time for him to end up in a holding cell either. Just this cell was new. As he woke up on the metal bench and stared at the cracked ceiling above him, his first thought was that it had all been a horrible nightmare and that he was still in the holding cell after Eudora had tased him that night behind Griddy’s or that he was still in the holding cell after Beaman had arrested him for Eudora’s murder. 

But then he took a look around, his eyes darting over the sorry figure of a guy in the corner of another cell who was talking to himself in a hushed voice, and he realized that this wasn’t his usual digs. He didn't recognize the room the cells were in. He didn't recognize the washed-out yellow paint on the walls or the ugly green and white linoleum floor. As he slowly took stock of himself, he noticed that his hands were all bloody and cut up. Then, finally, he realized that the knives in his boots were gone but he could still feel the harness around his chest underneath his sweatshirts. Slowly, he shoved a hand underneath only to find all his knives gone. 

Well, fuck. 

With a heavy groan and a headache for weeks, he slowly sat up on the bench and dropped his head in his hands in exhaustion. What now? What should he do now? Where should he go from here? Well, jail, probably. If he was lucky, the cops would release him back into the wild soon. Until then … Until then … _What?_ He had nowhere to go. He had no family. 

He had been living like a lone wolf for the better part of thirteen years but he had never felt … alone. He had always known that his siblings were out there. He had known that he would only need to go back to the academy to see Luther. He had known where he would find Vanya - because, of course, he had known her address and checked in on her from time to time until she had written that book. He had known that he would come across Klaus sooner or later out in the streets. He had been able to switch on the TV and see one of Allison’s movies. 

Now he had nothing and that thought was like a punch to the guts.

The door to the room was opened with a faint creak and an officer was walking in with a tired expression on his face. The man was probably in his fifties, with a slightly protruding beer belly and donuts crumbs on his shirt. His dark brown hair was ever so slightly receding from his forehead and would certainly start to grey soon. 

First, the Officer whose name tag read _‘Daniels’_ looked at the other young man in the cell next to Diego’s but then he looked at Diego and walked over to him. 

“Good Morning, Sunshine” He greeted him without much flourish but with a thick Texan accent, and paused in front of the door, his keys already in hand. Diego would be able to take them from him easily. He would be able to _overpower_ him easily. Even without his knives. He had taken on Luther numerous times, after all. He could take this guy on. He didn't move from his bench, though. What point was there in even trying? It wasn't like he had anything he needed to do or achieve. There was no damsel in distress he needed to safe somewhere out there, no family or life to get back to. 

“Not much of a talker, are you?” Diego looked back down on his feet. “Would you mind answering a few questions at my desk?” As he didn't answer again, the man gave an annoyed sigh. “Listen, partner, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. If you are not cooperating, I can just send you to the Dallas County Jail, there’s always room for one more and the angry white boys in there just love it when we throw a spic or two in for flavor, you know? Not that I would want to do that but … you attacked someone and you were loaded with knives when we finally took you in. It took three officers to arrest you. So … yeah, it's all on you whether you walk out of here with a warning or if we send you to play with a bunch of fucking nazis.”

He had attacked someone? Fuck. He didn't even remember it. It would explain the state of his hands, though. Finally, he cleared his throat and nodded. “Fine,” He said but his throat was hoarse and felt as if he had swallowed sandpaper. “Yeah ... I’m cooperating.”

“Good to hear, Pal.” The cop nodded and finally unlocked the cell door. Diego slowly got up. He felt heavy and sluggish as he walked out of the cell. His posture must have told the cop that Diego was not willing to fight or do anything stupid. The cop led him out of the room and into the bullpen where people were sitting at desks writing their reports by hand or hanging around the coffee maker. “Your lucky that the guy you jumped didn't press charges. You didn't hurt him too badly, he said and he had probably pity on you.” Officer Daniels finally said as he sat down at his desk and allowed Diego to take a seat next to the desk. 

“Pity?” He echoed silently. 

“One thing after the other.” Officer Daniels sighed as he pulled a form out of his desk and took a pen out of an old coffee mug on his desk. “You didn't have any ID on you. So, what’s your name?”

“Diego” He muttered and, as the man lifted a brow, he continued: “Hargreeves. Diego Hargreeves.”

“Date of birth?”

“October 1st, 19-” He paused. Fuck. Until now he had not once thought about a story to tell people. It had not been necessary. “1931.” He then said and Officer Daniels shortly furrowed his brows but didn't comment on the moment of hesitation as Diego gave his date of birth. 

“Do you remember anything about last night, Son?”

“I … Uhm … Remember going to that diner.” He brushed a hand over his face. “I had … waffles, I think. Then I went to the restroom.”

“How did you get into town?”

“I hitchhiked.”

“From?”

“All over the place.” He replied with a tired sigh. 

“So, the guy you assaulted, Mr. Hindley, said that he went to the restroom and found you sitting on the ground broken down in some sort of hysterical crying fit.” Diego could tell that he was blushing by the heat that was suddenly creeping up his neck. He had been found crying like a little baby by some stranger? Fuck. Well, wasn’t that embarrassing? Even more embarrassing than this one time when he had stumbled over his own feet and slammed face-first into a wall during a mission in front of Luther. “He said that he has seen stuff like this after the war and wanted to check on you, make sure you were okay. That’s when you went into the attack and when the waitress called us. You fought like a madman against us until we managed to knock you out.”

That would explain his headache. “I don't remember any of that” He replied silently. He didn't even have the fucking energy anymore to feel ashamed of having being found in hysterics no matter how embarrassing that was.

“As I said … you didn't hurt Mr. Hindley so badly that he wanted to press charges.” Officer Daniels sighed. “He was more concerned about getting you some help, Son. Have you any explanation for what happened?”

“I … I don't know. It … a lot happened. I think it just … came all crashing down on me.” even to his own ears that sounded like a weak explanation and probably nothing that Daniels would believe. The cop, however, surprised him with the understanding that was lacing his next words. 

“I see that a lot,” Officer Daniels said. “Usually from vets, you know? Did you fight in the war, Son?”

“No.” He shook his head and pushed the hair out of his face. “I … had a lot of issues with my family recently. My dad died, then, shortly after my mom died, then my girlfriend.” It felt a little wrong to call Patch his girlfriend but as of right now it was easier. He had loved her, in a way. “I lost my job and my home and I lost contact with my siblings and I have spent the last couple of months searching for my little brother all over the state. He’s probably dead already. I think … last night I just … snapped? I think I finally came to terms with everything.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” The man looked at him as if he couldn't quite believe his story but there was also kindness in his brown eyes that Diego wasn’t quite used to. “You said you lost contact with your siblings? How many siblings do you have?”

“Six” It seemed natural to count Ben too. “We’re all adopted, though. I don't know where they all are now and I can’t contact them either.”

“And this brother you are looking for, what's his name? What does he look like? Maybe I can help if he’s in the county.”

“His name is Klaus” He replied and leaned back heavily in his chair. Diego had never been a trusting person. He was a paranoid fuck and he knew that. But right now he was just so exhausted. In a way, the thought that Officer Daniels wanted to help him was exactly what he needed. “Tall - 6 feet like me. Brown hair, green eyes, thin. He sometimes talks to himself. He’s got … tattoos. The most striking are those on his hands. He has ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ tattooed on his palms and he-” He felt his throat constrict around the words he wanted to say so all that came out was a strangled choke. _Fuck_. 

Only as he forced himself to take a steadying breath, he noticed how Officer Daniels looked at him. For a moment, he didn't say anything but then the man opened his desk drawer and pulled a very colorful flyer out. In big-ass pink and orange letters the flyer said _‘Follow me’_ on the top and on the bottom between color full shapes and flowers, it said _‘You’re destined for enlightenment’_ and between those words was a photo of none other than his baby brother. 

He gasped like a fish on land and all but ripped the flyer from the officer’s hands. “Klaus!” He gasped. “T-T-That's him! That's my brother! B-But how a-a-and-” He tried to swallow down all the things he wanted to ask before he looked at the man again with a newfound spark, new determination while the truth still needed to sink in. His brother was alive. “Where do I find him? Please, Officer Daniels, I need to find him.”

“Well, your brother is the leader of some weird religious cult just outside of the city.” Officer Daniels answered patiently, his brows now furrowed even more while Diego tried to process this new information. “They live in a rather remote location near Cedar Hill close to the lake on the property of a former country club. We keep an eye on this cult since it started around a year ago. Weird how you never heard of them by now.”

“A cult” He deadpanned. “Yeah … All things considered … That does sound like something this moron would do.” Diego sighed. “What's this cult like?”

“Oh … Well … I’m not sure, actually. They seem … tame.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Free love and all that crap. They’re a bunch of hippies, to be honest. They don't do anything illegal - that we know of. They are not hurting anyone and they don't plan anything bad, I would assume. It's better to keep an eye on people like those, though.”

“Yeah … I agree.” He couldn't help but breathe out a laugh as he lifted the flyer closer to his face to look at his brother’s likeness on it. He felt overwhelmed once more - probably like he did last night - but in a good way this time. In fact, he was near tears again as he looked at this stupid flyer. Leave it to Klaus to actually thrive in this situation and form a cult. “Fuck … I can't believe it.”

Half an hour later, he was actually outside again in the sun, breathing in the warm air of the summer heat in Texas and Klaus’ flyer still clutched in his hands. By some miracle, he even got his knives back after he had told Officer Daniels that he was surviving by doing tricks with them on carnivals. He would have never thought that he would get out of this situation like this. Yet, here he was, slowly walking away from the police station, a goal now clear in his mind again. His baby brother was alive and well and he would soon see him again. 

Hitching a ride to Cedar Hill was easy enough and he arrived at the spot just three hours after he had left the police station. The heat was sweltering hot, the sun burning on his skin. By now, he had bundled up his knives in his sweatshirt after he had taken it off to walk around in his muscle shirt instead. Good thing he didn't burn easily. 

He quickly found the spot where the cult had set up camp at the foot of the hill where the old lakeside country club watched over the lake. Loads of tents and small huts were set up around the hill stretching almost up to the shoreline. People were bustling all over the place or sitting in circles with instruments. It looked … peaceful and exactly like some hippy bullshit Klaus would come up with. As he walked towards the place, he was immediately greeted by a pretty young girl with flowing red hair and freckles dusting her sun-kissed skin. 

“Welcome!” She smiled friendly and took his free hand without even asking or waiting for a response. Diego flinched at the touch but he had his reflexes enough under control so that he wouldn't lash out at her. “You must be new!”

“Yeah … I’m … I’m looking for Klaus?”

“Of course you are, Silly!” She smiled and then it was like he had pulled a plug and the girl wouldn't stop talking. “Everyone who comes here searches for enlightenment, after all! Come! Let's get you cleaned up a little. You must be starving too! Klaus is inside the temple right now, meditating.” She pointed up the hill at the old country club. “We are not to disturb him when he’s meditating. But I am sure he will greet you soon! Come!” 

He was a bit overwhelmed by all this but before he knew what was happening, there were more beautiful girls swarming him and tugging on him. For a second, he wasn’t quite sure if this was a cult or a harem but the deeper he was led into the folds of the cult, the more he realized that Klaus had not just collected a bunch of pretty people for aesthetic's sake. He could see a group of elderly people doing Tai Chi under a tree, a group of middle-aged women that looked like they escaped decades of being a wife and mother washing laundry and laughing, a man with grey hair was seemingly holding a bible lecture for a group of men and women of all ages. Everyone seemed content and happy and the smell of good food hung in the air, making Diego’s mouth water at the realization that he had barely touched his waffles in the diner yesterday. 

“So what's the deal with all of this?” He muttered as he was led to a smaller building hidden behind trees. The cult seemed to have built a rudimentary kind of bathhouse on a clearing. “What if I don't want to stay after meeting Klaus?”

The redhead from the start chuckled. “You don't have to stay” She smiled as one of her friends brought over a couple of towels and clean clothes for Diego. “Nobody has to stay. You are free to go wherever and whenever you want, Silly. But if you decide to stay for a bit, we are happy to have you as long as you want to be here.”

It all sounded too good to be true and Diego had enough experience and read enough about cults to know that if something sounded too good to be true it usually wasn’t. Still, a part of him didn't want to believe that Klaus would set up any kind of cult that was rotten in some way. His brother was a good guy. He had no bad bone in his body. Sure, he had stolen and lied and had been thrown in jail a couple of times - but that was all due to his addiction. The real Klaus, the boy with the owlish green eyes that Diego loved so dearly, was kind and loving and gentle and would never force anyone to do anything they didn't want to do. 

In the end, Diego was pretty much forced into a bath by soft hands and encouraging smiles. He allowed those girls to take care of him even though it weirded him out completely. No one had ever pampered him as they did right now. When he emerged from the bathhouse in clean albeit it very beige linen clothes and was led to where the food was, he felt clean for the first time in months. They had even taken care of his beard and as he looked in the mirror he felt a bit more like himself again - even though he was wearing sandals. Klaus would probably never let him live that down.

He was sitting on a soft pillow on the floor inside the food tent and had just emptied a huge bowl of rice and vegetables as he heard a sudden commotion outside the tent. People were talking quickly and loudly, some even cheering. It was like a storm had suddenly picked up before the fabric of the entrance to the tent was pushed aside a little by a tall man to allow entry to … his brother. 

The moment Klaus stepped into the tent and the stranger closed the entrance again, the noise from before ebbed off. Klaus stared at him with wide eyes and the few other people around the tent looked up in what Diego could only describe as reverence. Klaus’ eyes, however, were locked on him. His hair was longer, like on the flyer but he looked good. Kissed from the sun out here and not as sickly thin anymore. He was dressed in an assortment of utterly ridiculous clothing. A pair of vertically striped pants and a light blue linen tunic, a bunch of necklaces dangling around his neck, rings on his hands and bracelets around his thin wrists. He was walking around barefoot. Of course, he was. 

“Diego?” Klaus whispered as Diego slowly got up from his pillow on the ground after setting down his empty bowl. He didn't know what to say or do, so he just stood there, looking at his brother, frozen in the moment. Leave it to Klaus, however, to properly greet him. Before he knew it, Klaus had all but jumped him, wrapping his arms around him and crashing into him with so much force that he almost knocked Diego over. He could only hold onto Klaus and squeeze, burying his head into Klaus’ shoulder just like his brother did. 

“I thought you were dead” Diego finally managed to croak.

“I thought _you_ were dead,” Klaus repeated with a raspy voice and watery eyes as he pulled back enough to touch Diego’s face as if he needed to make sure that it was really him. He knew that there were tears in his own eyes as he put his much bigger hands on the sides of Klaus’ face. He still couldn't believe it. Here he was. “You look fucking hilarious.” Klaus huffed with the first couple of tears dropping from his lashes to fall down his face. 

He was pulling Klaus back into a hug before he could break out in tears once more. He had had more than enough nervous breakdowns for a lifetime in the past twenty-four hours. 

※※※※※※※

“Do you know where the others are?” Diego later asked his brother as they sat together under a tree near the lake, removed from the hustle and bustle of the camp but not without people watching from afar. 

“No” Klaus whispered. “I landed about a year ago in the middle of nowhere and started searching but … there was nothing. No one. I thought you guys were all dead - or that Five had messed up and thrown us all into different times, you know? At one point I just knew that I would never see any of you guys ever again. It was just me and Ben.”

“So, you started a cult.”

“It was kind of an accident.”

“How does one start a cult by accident?”

“Well … I … Uhm …” He could tell that there was something more going on that Klaus didn't want to talk about. He could tell from the way Klaus was holding himself right now, from the way he leaned into Diego some more as if looking for his protection. He put his arm around Klaus in response and leaned his own head against that of his brother. Since they had all left home thirteen years ago, the closeness that they had once shared had been forgotten for a while. But here they were now. The two of them against the rest of the world, just like all those times Klaus had climbed into his bed at night after a nightmare.

“You can tell me” Diego sighed. “You know you can tell me everything.”

“I know” Klaus whispered before he looked at him out of those big green eyes again. “If I would ask you to help me … get away from this place … would you?”

“What do you mean?” The confusion he felt was all but dripping from his voice now. “I thought you had a pretty nice thing going on around here.”

“I thought so too … for a while.” He replied with a sigh. 

“Tell me.” He was back at that Veterans’ bar, seeing his little brother so distressed that he was crying in front of a bunch of strangers with only the protective urge to help him and make it all better again while he had been suffering in quite a similar way. He had not always been the best brother to Klaus in the past thirteen years but he wanted to be better now that they had gotten a second chance. 

Before Klaus could open his mouth, however, someone was calling for him. A young man with blond hair stood a few feet away from where they were sitting. “Klaus?” He called. “Mr. Gilliard wants to talk to you in the temple!”

Klaus stiffened ever so slightly beside him but before Diego could even form a question in his mind, Klaus got up with a sigh and a pat on Diego’s knee. “Okay so … See you later, I guess. Hey … try to have some fun while I’m taking care of business, okay? Dip your toes in the lake or something. Speaking of which, I think I never saw your toes before.”

He smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes and that expression he had on his face reminded Diego painfully of how Klaus used to look when he was still on drugs. The sudden fear that Klaus was actually back on it crossed his mind. It wouldn't be unlike Klaus. If he had thought his family was dead and that he was all alone in the world … Why wouldn't he have turned back to drugs? Fuck, he really wished there would be a way for him to talk to Ben right now. But for that, he needed Klaus and he needed him clean. 

“Sure, Babe” He scoffed and watched him go. The young man who had called Klaus paused for a second staring at Diego with an expression he couldn't quite read before he followed Klaus. A little while later, Diego was roaming around the place, looking at the things people were doing as he was still desperately trying to find out more about this commune Klaus had set up here. Some people were knitting, others were sewing, and there were even some weaving what looked like carpets or blankets. 

“So you and Klaus … you seem close. Did you know each other before?” It was the same young man who had called Klaus earlier that was approaching Diego now that he went back to the center of the camp near the bonfire that would probably be lit by nightfall.

“He’s my brother” Diego replied automatically without even thinking about the response he wanted to give. He noticed the relief on the young man’s face immediately, though. “We haven’t seen each other in a long while.” 

“Oh,” The man laughed. “I thought you were his boyfriend or something.”

“No, go for it, Dude.” Diego shrugged but the other guy looked at him a bit surprised by his response. Well, they were in the roaring ’60s, after all. This guy was probably not very used to people being cool with his sexuality. Sometimes he forgot that things used to be much harder in this regard. 

“I don't think Klaus is one for a committed relationship” The man laughed and Diego didn't quite know what to make of that. This guy, whoever he was, weirded him out but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He was kinda intense, the way he was staring at Diego and he almost felt like the guy was trying to get information out of him.

“That sounds like he’s having tons of orgies all the time.” He decided to deflect with a silly joke. 

“I wouldn't say it like that.”

“Oh,” So there _were_ orgies. Well … Not much of a surprise, he guessed. 

“You are always invited to join, of course.” The man winked at him before he walked off, leaving Diego with all kinds of weird feelings in the pit of his stomach. Well, his baby bro had never been the poster child for sexual abstinence. 

After he had seen everything that was going on, the sun was already setting and most people were having food in the food tent or sitting around the bonfire in the center of the camp chatting comfortably with each other. Klaus had yet to resurface and Diego was starting to feel a little anxious about his absence. Who was this Mr. Gilliard Klaus had been called to? And what had they to discuss that was taking so long? Two hours had gone by since he had last seen his brother and a part of him was worried about Number Four - just like he used to be. He had spent nearly thirteen years listening to the police radio for any kind of information about his brother, flinching and breaking out in cold sweat every time there was talk about an overdosed or dead junkie.

He found himself sitting near the bonfire with something to eat on his lap at one point after one of the elderly women had demanded Diego to have something to eat and relax. He was listening to the people around him talk and gave answers whenever he could without giving too much away. It felt nice and the people were friendly and inviting towards him - especially now since it had spread like wildfire through the camp that he was Klaus’ brother. Slowly, he started to get why so many were living full time at this place. They had a nice little community here where everyone seemed to help each other.

The later it got, however, the more and more antsy Diego became. He wanted to talk to Klaus. There was so much they had to catch up on and he still didn't know what Klaus had meant when he said he wanted to leave this place. He had spent months and months looking for Klaus. And now, so shortly after they had reunited, he had been ripped from him again as it seemed. Maybe he was a bit childish. He couldn't help the way he felt, though. Not after everything that had happened. Not after Mom’s death, not after Eudora’s death. Not after Allison almost dying. He wouldn't be able to move on if he would lose Klaus. And life … Life seemed such a fragile thing suddenly. 

“Hey, is Klaus coming back outside any time soon or…?” He finally turned to one of the girls sitting next to him. She blinked in surprise at him before she put on a small smile. 

“Mhm, yeah he should have come out by now.” She shrugged.

“Doesn't he sleep there?” He pointed towards the old country club, the building that they all seemed to refer to as their temple for some reason. 

“No, he sleeps in the big green tent a bit further away from the camp.” She pointed to the spot but in the darkness, Diego couldn't see anything, of course. “He says it helps him stay in tune with the spirit world.” 

“Then who’s that Mr. Gilliard-person?”

“He’s the man in charge, so to say.” The girl responded. 

“I thought Klaus was-”

“Oh yes, of course!” She then chuckled. “But Mr. Gilliard actually owns this piece of land. The temple used to be a country club but it lost all its members after the war. Many people went bankrupt, you know? And when Mr. Gilliard found Klaus, he offered him to set up camp here. So … He’s the big boss but he’s really nice. He believes in Klaus.”

“And how do you … keep afloat? I mean, how do you have money for food and stuff?” 

“We sell the things we create here. Some of us do pottery, for example. Others sew or knit or weave. Our crafts sell quite nicely on local markets and Mr. Gilliard takes care of the business side of things. With the money we gain from that, he makes sure that we have food and materials for our crafts. But we want to be self-sustainable one day. Our goal is to set up a community in the countryside where we can grow our own food and have animals and stuff. Mr. Gilliard makes sure that we will reach this goal in a couple of years.”

“This Mr. Gilliard sounds like a swell dude.” All this still sounded too good to be true and so Diego forced a smile and got up slowly. “I think it's a great plan to set up a farm somewhere. Fuck capitalism.” He added even though it made him cringe a little on the inside. “I’m gonna have a stroll around and then hit the hay, I guess.”

“Sounds lovely” The girl smiled. “Good night then, Diego.”

He nodded and walked away from the campfire. He almost expected someone to follow him as he walked back to the tend one of the girls had shown him to earlier but he couldn't see anyone or feel the presence of anyone sneaking up behind him. They had put his old clothes in there after they had been washed and mended. Most importantly, they had put his knives and harnesses there. He took everything and stuffed it in a jute bag he found lying next to his makeshift bed. With the ugly ass jute bag slung over his shoulder, his hippie transformation was now complete as it seemed. He would pay Klaus back for that sooner or later. 

As he left the tent again, he almost expected to bump into someone. That didn't happen, though. This part of the camp was quiet and serene as most people were already sleeping after a day of hard work. Still, despite the people here seeming so honest and care-free and genuine, Diego felt creeped out by this place. That was probably just his paranoia coming back to kick him in the ass. Regardlessly, he felt like he was being watched and he probably was - but surely not because people distrusted him but because they were curious about him. 

As carefully as he could, Diego snuck up the hill towards the ‘temple’. There was light behind some of the large windows on the ground floor but he quickly realized that the curtains in front of most of them were drawn so that no one could have a look inside. Now, he was almost certain that there was something else going on inside this building - something this Mr. Gilliard-character didn't want anyone to know about. 

In the driveway at the front of the imposing house with the Georgian front, waited a white Bentley - presumably for Mr. Gilliard. After all, he doubted that this man was actually living here. There was a gate further down the hill that marked the former entrance of this club. The rest of the fence that used to surround Mr. Gilliard’s land had probably been demolished at one point as it was no longer needed. He wondered if there was any kind of security running around this part of the property. He couldn't see anyone, at the very least.

After Diego had gone around the building, he finally found a cracked window upstairs and made quick work of actually climbing the facade and sneaking in. He was a vigilante, after all. He knew how to get into places people didn't want him to get into. 

It was dark upstairs so he didn't bother having a look around. Everything of note seemed to take place downstairs anyway. He snuck down a narrow staircase reserved for the former staff of the country club and found himself in a vast kitchen. The kitchen too was plunged into complete darkness. Luckily for him, he couldn't see or hear any kind of security walk around the place. Whoever this Mr. Gilliard was, he didn't seem to think that security would be necessary at this place. Not with a bunch of peace-loving hippies around. 

“Are we clear now?” Diego heard the dark voice of a man come from one of the parlor rooms at the front of the house and paused as he was about to leave the kitchen in search of his brother. “We have a business to run, boy, and I have no patience for any kind of interference. You know that by now, right? Send him away or you know what I am capable of.”

“Yes, Sir.” Klaus' voice responded thinly as Diego leaned against the wall near the kitchen door, hidden from sight by the darkness of the room. He wanted to see what was going on in that room his brother was in right now but he could tell from the tone of voice of Mr. Gilliard, that the man was about to leave. Maybe he would get his chance as soon as the man was gone. Sure, usually he would go in guns blazing - metaphorically speaking - but right now, he didn't know what was going on and if there was any danger for Klaus or anyone else he didn't know about. He had learned it the hard way that, sometimes, sitting ducks was just necessary. 

“Good and now go back out there and keep your circus act alive, boy” The man drawled before Diego could see him step out of the front room, followed by two goons in suits of which one quickly walked over to the front door to open it for Gilliard. 

Gilliard was not the tallest person Diego had ever seen for sure and even from afar he didn't look very intimidating - unlike his goons. His hair was balding in the back so he had combed it across. He was dressed in a white suit that was way too warm for the summer heat in Texas. His face, Diego couldn't quite make out as the man immediately turned to walk up to the front door and was thusly putting his back towards Diego. After Gilliard had left, the two goons followed him outside and everything inside of Diego wanted to throw one of his knives to stick him in his fat ass - just for threatening Klaus. Nobody except Diego got to threaten his brother. 

A moment later, Gilliard and his men were outside and then he heard the engine of the Bentley roar back to life. He would have expected Klaus to emerge from the room too but his brother was still missing in action. As he deemed it safe enough, Diego walked out of the kitchen and crept down the hall. Throwing a glance into the parlor, he found Klaus lying on his back on a bunch of pillows in the middle of the room. In the back, some sort of altar had been set up but Diego didn't quite know what to make of it. It wasn’t anything he had ever seen before. Candles were burning around the room in glass bowls and cups so they wouldn't cause a fire and on the ground lay plenty of colorful carpets and pillows. The room reminded him a little of Klaus’ childhood bedroom as the air was heavy with the scent of incense burning and the sweet smell of weed wafting towards him. 

“I know Ben” Klaus murmured to the air beside him. He sounded incredibly tired and sluggish. There was a noticeable slur to his words as he spoke. “I know.”

“Klaus?” He half expected his brother to startle at the sound of his voice but he only lifted his head slowly to look at Diego standing by the door. His lips were bloody and he looked severely roughed up the way his weird-ass tunic was ripped in the front. “Fuck, Klaus! What's going on?” 

Klaus slumped back with a defeated sigh and a wince and so, Diego just hurried over to kneel down on the ground beside him. “Hey” He tried again. “Hey what's wrong? What happened?” A second later, Klaus clung to him as for dear life, sobbing into the ugly beige shirt Diego had gotten earlier. “Hey … Hey, it's okay” He muttered and cradled his brother to his chest like a child, hoping that it might help calm him down. He remembered a night when Klaus had come into his room, his hair grey with dust and covered in spiderwebs, cold to the touch, this face cut up from God knows what. He remembered sitting on his bedroom floor, cradling his little brother to his chest in much the same way as Klaus had cried harder than he had ever seen him cry. He remembered promising Klaus that he was going to kill Reginald for what he did to him that night. 

“Please Dee” Klaus then sobbed. “Help me get away”

He didn't need to be asked twice. This whole place was giving him the creeps despite the people seeming genuinely happy and content here. “Of course,” He said firmly as he pushed Klaus back a little by his shoulders but only so he could press their foreheads together as he used to when they were children and Klaus came to him in tears because he was so scared of the ghosts or the nightmares that he used to suffer. Together like this, they took three steadying breaths and he could feel how Klaus started to relax under his hands on his shoulders. “Of course, little Bro. We are leaving right the fuck now.”

Klaus nodded and let out a shaky little breath before he squeezed Diego’s shoulders in return. After that, Diego helped Klaus to get up and directed him out of the room. However, as Diego directed him to the front door, Klaus stopped him. “There are people surveilling the front of the house.” He whispered. “And down in the camp too. That's how Gilliard knew you were here. They are going to stop us. They … they’ll shoot you if they think you try to take me with you.”

“Shoot me?” Diego echoed with raised brows. “Christ, Klaus … What's going on in this place? Why doesn't your boss want me around you?”

“I’m telling you” Klaus promised quietly and with insistence. “But we have to leave first.”

“How?”

“There’s … There’s a tunnel underneath the house. It leads to the boathouse by the lake. If we manage to cross the lake … We should be fine.” Klaus was weak on his legs as Diego nodded and moved on. 

Klaus directed him back to the kitchen and a door that Diego had previously not even noticed because of the darkness inside the room. The door led down into the basement with a row of all kinds of different rooms - mostly storages, of course. Further down, there was another door with a brass sign on it reading ‘boathouse’. A part of him wanted to carry Klaus on his back as he grew more and more certain that it wasn’t just weed Klaus was on right now. Sure, weed made him sluggish but not like this. Never like this. 

It wasn’t important right now. Klaus would tell him soon, he was sure of that. Instead of thinking about it or asking too many questions, Diego focused on getting Klaus through that tunnel because he was certain that they didn't have that much time until the security Klaus had spoken about would realize that something was odd and would search for him.

The tunnel was only a couple hundred feet long until they reached the end of it and found another door. It was locked but Diego made quick work of the wooden door with one forceful kick before he dragged Klaus through and up a set of wooden steps. The boathouse opened right into the lake so the brothers could actually get into a boat without being seen by anyone. After Klaus was sitting safely in the boat, Diego climbed in, untied the boat from the landing stage, and kicked the boat off before taking the oars. The boat had a motor but if they didn't want to draw attention, it would be better to get to it the old-fashioned way. 

They didn't speak the entire time. Klaus just sat in the boat, kinda holding himself as he wrapped his arms around himself as if he was cold despite the hot summer night. He hadn't even tried to get the blood off of his face so far and was just staring out at the lake or maybe even at the commune he was leaving behind. They had gone on like this for what felt like hours as they reached the middle of the lake. So far, there were no signs of anyone being on their tail. Getting away from this place suddenly seemed ridiculously easy but Diego was sure that this would change soon. Klaus was not a scaredy-cat and the level of fear in his eyes before had been enough to convince Diego that this situation was serious. Seriously enough to make Klaus want to escape in the dead of night. 

“Thank you” Klaus muttered quietly after a while. 

“Anytime, Bro” He replied automatically. “Now tell me what's going on.”

Klaus sighed deeply and dragged a hand down his face. “Gilliard sells drugs” He then replied, dropping a bomb like that without even flinching. “Concealed in the goods those poor fuckers create. That's why they sell so damn well. The people make pots and vases and all kinds of other things and then bring it to the house where Gilliard and his men package them for their customers together with the drugs and then sell them on a market to not draw suspicion. He marks the items he sells with the drugs so his customers know which one has their order and the sellers know which one to sell to what person. He makes bank with this kind of shit - of course, the commune only gets what they would usually get for their goods in the form of food and supplies.”

“And what’s … why does he need you for that?”

“Because those people think I’m the reincarnation of Jesus or shit. I keep them happy and inspired, so to say. I pretend like I’m some kind of Guru so that they keep working and not ask any questions. They are good people. They honestly think that they are doing God’s work here.”

“You are back on drugs, aren't you?” His words came out softly and without accusation in his tone. He would understand it if he was. 

Klaus nodded and even in the darkness of the lake with just the moonlight shining down on them and the stars glistening above, he could see the tears on his face. “I didn't mean to” He then said. He sounded choked up, though. 

“Gilliard is keeping you under control with the drugs.”

“Yeah” He whispered. “He knows I can’t use my powers with them … So I’m not a threat to him.”

“But he knows about your powers.”

“He’s seen me use them. Before all of this.”

“Okay” Diego groaned and took a steadying breath to make sense of all the chaos inside of his head. “Tell me how all this mess even started. From the beginning. I mean, you were dropped into the ’60s and accidentally formed a cult?”

Klaus sighed again before he leaned back in the boat and dropped his hand over the railing to let it glide through the water. He looked exhausted and sad the way he just hung there and Diego already knew that they had a long hard road ahead of them. 

“Okay, so … When I landed, I started looking for you guys - like I said. When I didn't find you guys and was alone with Ben … I really tried, Diego. I tried finding work and shit. For a while, it was … okay, I guess. I had a job at a grocery store and a place to crash at one point. But you know me. I’m getting antsy. I decided I would travel around, see what the ’60s had to offer. So I did. Then, in the middle of fucking nowhere, I got hit by a car while I was walking alongside the road trying to hitch a ride.”

“You … what-”

“I don't recommend it.” Klaus sighed. “Anyway, I died. I bled out in the middle of the road and the people who ran me over just floored it.”

“Wait a second! You _died_? Like in _dead_?”

“Yeah, turns out, I can’t die.” Klaus shrugged as if it was the most normal thing to do. “I died before … When I was looking for Luther that one day. Hit my head pretty bad and died at that rave while Luther was heading home with a furry. Anyway. So, I lay there dead and shit, and then I woke back up. Apparently, a group of religious folks had found me as they were driving to some sort of church activity thingy. That's how I got my first disciples. They found me dead and I came back to life. Ever since then, they thought I was some kind of Jesus.”

“You have the look down,” Diego said as he decided to shelve all the questions he had about that story or about the fact that his brother had apparently another power that none of them had known about for later. 

“Why, thank you.” Klaus sighed. “You look like Manson, though. We should change that soon. Not a good look. Anyway … After that, I decided … yeah, well, why not use this to make money, right? I never meant it to go so far, though. I showed them my powers. Materialized Ben, levitated a little, shit like this, and the people ate it all up.” 

_Levitation?,_ Diego thought but decided to shelve that one too for the moment. They would have plenty of time to unpack all of this. 

“Before I knew it, I had a whole gang of people following me and then my following was ever-expanding. We came to Dallas six months ago. That's when Gilliard saw me do my tricks in the town center and approached me. He offered me to take my people to the land he owned and we did. As I said, at the start everything was fine. We had a good thing going. And then … Then I walked in on him packaging the drugs and … yeah, well that's when everything turned to shit for me. I told him that I wanted nothing to do with this crap. The people believed me, they were good and nice and they didn't deserve to be complicit in this crap.”

“And that's when he started drugging you.”

“Yeah … Which also meant that I could no longer perform any miracles for my people. I had to start bullshitting them. Gilliard has his eyes everywhere. He has some of his guys among my people, acting like they are part of the group and shit.”

“This guy that called you away-”

“Grayson” Klaus nodded. “Yeah, he’s one of them. That's how Gilliard always knows what's up and if I behave. If I don’t … people get hurt. Or I get hurt. He makes people _disappear_ as a warning and I then have to spread lies and tell everyone that they went back home or just left. When he heard that you were here and that you were my brother, he threatened to have you killed because he was concerned that you would … well, get me to leave.” He chuckled but Diego felt like proper crap. After all, it had been him who had told this Grayson-dude that he was Klaus’ brother and that guy had probably run right up to the _temple_ to tell Gilliard. 

“Fuck” Diego sighed from the bottom of his heart. He could see the shoreline now. It wasn’t far anymore. “Well, he was right about that. I wished I had known earlier so that I could’ve kicked his teeth in.”

“It's not worth it.”

“What about your cult now? Aren't you afraid that … he will keep abusing them?”

“They are smart people. Maybe a bit naive, but smart. When they realize that I am not returning … they will leave and there is nothing Gilliard can do to stop them.” He could tell that he was worried regardless but for now, those people had to fend for themselves. There was no way Diego would allow Klaus to ever go back there. 

“So … what now?”

“I dunno” Klaus muttered into the warm air before he forced a smile. “Does it matter? As long as we’re together, I mean.”

“I forgot that heroin made you sappy.” Diego sighed. “So first thing on the agenda … detox, huh?”

“Apparently.” Klaus huffed. “You should tie me up somewhere though.”

“Duly noted, baby bro.”

“Do you think the others are out there somewhere?”

For the first time in months, Diego felt hope well up inside of him at that question. “If they are,” He said. “We’re going to find them.”

※※※※※※※

October had arrived in strides but the air was still hot and humid as they drove into Dallas again. They had stayed on the road for the better part of two months now after they had found that really cheap car and bought it with what little money they had managed to earn together with odd jobs here and there. 

“Can't believe we are back here” Klaus hummed. Two months ago, the newspaper had reported on the biggest drug bust in Texas’ history. Gilliard had been caught in his scheme and locked up in a matter of weeks. Maybe someone had tipped the police off but there was no one to prove that Diego had picked up a payphone and called Officer Daniels. The cult had stayed together even after Klaus had left until the drug bust. Luckily, no one was convicted of anything who wasn’t actually guilty. He knew that his brother had been worried about that. 

As they drove down Mainstreet, Klaus was humming to the radio and Ben was rolling his eyes in annoyance in the back seat whenever Klaus would decide to actually sing way off-key. The even numbers trio was back at it again and Diego still needed getting used to Ben being that ghostly presence that was always around them.

“We should stop for food” Diego sighed. “Tummy’s a-rumbling” Klaus laughed at that. 

“Sure, Honey.” He grinned as they stopped at a red light. “I know that really nice diner that has the best waffles in town! It's right there at-”

“What?” He asked as Klaus suddenly stopped in what he was saying and stared out the window. 

“Hold on, hold on, hold on!”

“What?”

“Look!” Klaus pointed out of his window down the street at some random beauty shop. 

“What?”

“Look!” Klaus exclaimed again, waving his hand even more wildly as if this would explain anything. Just as Diego wanted to ask again, he saw the sign above the door. In bold pink letters the sign read _‘Allison’s Beauty Parlor’_ and right underneath that sign, they watched a young black woman with long dark hair, dressed in a nice yellow summer dress, open up shop. Even from afar, they could see the tattoo on the wrist of the woman in question. 

“Fuck me sideways!” Klaus laughed. 

Just a minute later, they were pulling into the parking spot in front of the salon and scrambled to get out. Klaus was the first to enter the shop and even before Diego entered, he could hear his sister’s loud screech at the sight of her brother and then a shrill giggle as she undoubtedly was hugging Klaus. As he walked inside, Allison was indeed hugging Klaus fiercely to her chest before her eyes caught on Diego and she let out another little shriek. He would have never expected that Allison would ever react with so much joy to seeing him. She was already waving him over to join the hug with tears in her eyes. The hug was awkward, a tangle of limbs reminding Diego why he had never been a fan of group hugs. It felt good, though. 

An hour later, after tears had been dried and stories exchanged, Diego found himself sitting in one of the comfortable leather chairs inside the salon next to his brother, his naked feet in a tub with warm water just like Klaus while their sister was going about cutting Klaus’ hair with a smile and a hum on her lips as if all of this was just normal for them to do. Maybe it was the warm water or the essential oils in the water, but Diego hadn't been this relaxed in a long time.

Everything about this whole entire situation was just weird and beyond his comprehension and yet, Diego felt good about it. The past six months had been rough and a constant struggle not to go completely insane and end up in a mental asylum drugged out of his mind. And here he was now. One living brother at his side chatting animatedly to one of their sisters, one dead brother filing through a beauty magazine as if he was truly interested in the newest trends, and with the hope that one day they might all be together again. 

It seemed only a matter of time now that they would find the rest of their family too. 

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think! I worked my ass off to get it out on time <3<3<3  
> Also, now I really want fanart of Diego in his proper hippie get-up


End file.
